Monthly Archives: February 2016

Land disputes involving the Trans-Pecos Pipeline have made their way to district court. At least 12 eminent domain lawsuits have been filed in Brewster and Presidio counties by the company behind the planned 143-mile, 42-inch natural gas pipeline. Under eminent domain, the government can seize private land for public use, provided the property owner is compensated at “fair market value,” explained Steve Anderson, an Alpine-based attorney and member of the Big Bend Conservation Alliance (BBCA). However, he questioned the validity…

Folks near Wimberley have something big to celebrate. Today the washed-out Fischer Store Road bridge over the Blanco River officially reopened. If you don’t understand the excitement in the reopening of this bridge today, you don’t understand how important it is to the livelihood and the safety of the people who live on the other side. Nine months ago the Memorial Weekend floods washed away the Fischer Store Road bridge, isolating Hays County families on the west side of the Blanco…

In a deal that will pave the way for Guadalupe-Blanco River Authority (GBRA) officials to fulfill the groundwater component of its Mid-Basin Project, the GBRA Board of Directors approved the river authority’s purchase of Texas Water Alliance Limited (TWA), from SJW Corp. Authorization of the GBRA general manager to execute the $31 million purchase of the TWA assets and to conduct business related to the sale was approved following the Executive Session of the Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2016, board meeting. …

The Texas Supreme Court on Friday handed a victory to farmers, ranchers and other longstanding water rights holders by declining to take up a Brazos River case with widespread implications for future water battles in drought-prone Texas. Denying a state petition for review, the justices left in place a lower court’s ruling that said Texas cannot give special treatment to cities or power generators over more “senior” water rights holders on parched rivers — even if the state declares it…

The government agency in charge of the Edwards Aquifer must pay two pecan farmers upwards of $2.5 million for limiting their groundwater pumping, a jury decided. The verdict came as welcome news to Glenn and JoLynn Bragg. The couple has been in litigation with the Edwards Aquifer Authority for 10 years after suing the EAA for denying one of their groundwater applications and cutting the other in half. “We’ve pleased to have it over,” JoLynn Bragg said. “We can live…

As development in Texas increases, lands that have been in families for generations are at a greater risk of fragmentation and development than ever before. Many are beginning to look to conservation easements to protect family lands for future generations. But what is a conservation easement and how does it work? Texas Agricultural Land Trust’s Ken Cerely shares four must-knows about conservation easements. Read more from Cattleman Magazine

A Medina County jury will decide this week how much the Edwards Aquifer Authority should pay a pecan-farming couple for limiting the water they can pump from below their land. The lawsuit involving farmers Glenn and JoLynn Bragg has been in litigation for 10 years. The case is the first one in Texas history where someone has sued a government agency for limiting groundwater and won… Read more from SA Express-News

In a win for farmers, ranchers and longtime water rights holders, the Texas Supreme Court on Friday let stand a Brazos River basin decision that limits the power of the state to divvy up water during drought. Farmers along the Brazos River, whose basin includes Williamson County, had sued the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, arguing that officials overstepped their bounds and treated farmers unfairly as the agency tried to balance water needs during a scorching drought. In the balance…

A major new study on protecting the Hill Country from unrelenting population growth and land development was recently unveiled for Comal County residents. “People love this place and they really want to be here and appreciate the beauty that the Hill Country has to offer, but if we’re not prepared to deal with growth and manage it effectively, we have the potential to love this place to death,” study co-author Britin Bostick told the crowd of about 75 attending a…

San Antonio Water System officials today released a list of firms interested in buying into the Vista Ridge pipeline project. Brookfield Global Infrastructure Advisor Ltd., John Laing Group PLC and the Blackstone Group have all submitted formal proposals to Abengoa Vista Ridge, the company that would build the pipeline to deliver water to SAWS customers from Burleson County. With its parent company, Abengoa S.A., deeply in debt and working to avoid bankruptcy, Abengoa Vista Ridge announced earlier this month that…

"All my life I have drawn sustenance from the rivers and from the hills of my native state... I want no less for all the children of America than what I was privileged to have as a boy."-Lyndon B. Johnson